Clash Of Two Kings

"That's a rather arrogant word to say." Aviante commented. 

Urs did not answer but instead probed the newfound power overflowing inside his body. It took time to adjust as his body wasn't accustomed to having large amounts of stats. His status window kept on ringing inside his head but he ignored it and remained his eye to his opponent. 

"Enough then…" 

Even he had no time to check what power he received. All he knew was it came from the Purgatory King after his farewell. He has no idea if this power has a price but even so… 

"I had to stop this man."

It wasn't because he might be a threat to humanity. It was purely a selfish desire that his heart longed for. 

It was to protect his family. For him, his summons became his family, and Hans is included there. Since this man hurt them, he has to pay the price. 

The dark energy mold behind his back, slowly shaping into a bright energy wing. It emitted a constant stream of dark particles seemingly devouring every pinch of mana in the surroundings. 

'!!!' 

His mana is regenerating too fast. 

Urs, who had his whole arsenals prepared, grinned. 

"Now, let's begin." 

Urs' new form vanished and instantly appeared behind Aviante. 

At that moment. 

Slash—

He swung his blade forward. However, it was blocked. 

Clang—

The spear and sword clashed, sending massive shockwaves all around the place. Unable to dodge, Hans was blown away by the strong gust of wind. 

Meanwhile, the two men glared at each other as their weapons sparked. They pushed their strength behind their weapons, attempting to overpower the other one. 

However, their strength is evenly matched. Realizing this, Urs quickly slammed his foot down on Aviante's chest. 

Crack—

Having been focused on the clash of weapons, Aviante was caught off guard by the sudden pain in the chest and was pushed away. Although it regenerated immediately, he knew that his rib broke. 

But Urs followed around not giving him any time to counter. 

Swish—

Urs dashed even faster until he became a dark spark constantly flickering on another one's perspective. His speed was too fast for the eyes to follow. 

Seeing the familiar eyes under his vision, Aviante was surprised even more. 

Up until now, he felt that Urs and he were evenly matched, be it skills or stats. No matter what Urs did, this battle would end up in a stalemate. 

How wrong he was to assume that. 

Not only did this guy become faster, but he's also getting stronger with every clash. He tried to retreat but Urs chased him around denying him the opportunity to attack. However, if he wanted to break his passive position, he had to attack somehow. 

… and the only way to do that is to be slashed at the same time. 

Slash—

Stab—

Urs suddenly halted, cracking the ground from the sudden shift of momentum.

Aviante frowned after his spear stabbed no one. The sudden stop of Urs surprised him. He thought that Urs would attack again and he already risked being slashed while he lunged his spear forward. With this, he'll be able to attack Urs successfully albeit with a price. 

'Did he predict my attack at the last second?!' 

How strong are his senses to be able to do that?! 

Without wasting any time, Aviante teleported from a mile away. Aside from becoming the 'Successor', he couldn't think of any possible reason for Urs' sudden surge of power. 

'This might be bad for Urs…' 

But the same could be said to him. Aviante watched as Urs' figure approached in an instant.

The two men's humongous aura collided. 

The heated surrounding and tense atmosphere around the 100 mile radius even suffocated the Bloodbane gatekeepers. Hans, on the other hand, sprawled on the floor, powerless to even stand back up. 

At the same time, Aviante was becoming frustrated as time passed. The difference in strength is getting farther and farther. It wasn't an exaggeration if after 10 minutes, Urs would overpower him completely. 

'I need to escape.'

It would be easy of course, but his gatekeepers wouldn't be able to. 

'Come to think of it…' 

At that moment, Aviante noticed something. 

"Urs…" 

"..." 

He received no reply. 

"Hehehe, I see… you're dying right?" 

"..." 

"...slowly but surely." This time, as if regaining his advantage, Aviante smirked. His chest that was pounding hard, began to beat steady and calmly.

"You'll be the one who'll end up dying, Aviante."

"HAHAHAHAHA, you fool!! You think you can hide your true condition to me!? HAHAHAHA, boy, I bet you only have like 5 minutes?" 

"..." 

"4?"

"..."

"3? Oh, 3? 3 minutes!? HAHAHA, I'm the winner until the end."

Swish—

Urs began his barrage of attacks once again. 

There were definitely a lot of strange things that happened until now. Aviante felt the dimension where he trapped those Awakened ripped apart. They were able to go back on Earth but they wouldn't be able to save their comrades here. 

Aviante focused his gaze towards Urs, whose breathing was becoming uneven as the clock ticks. The determination in his eyes somewhat irritated him but even then, it's just a futile struggle. 

'Well, I should entertain him too.'

It would be rude of him not to fight this determined hero. It's been a hundred years since he fought with all of his strength. 

Urs leaped into the air, twisted his body before lifting his sword above his head. 

[Corrupted Whirling Claws] 

As he swung his blade forward, it unleashed four vertical slashes at once, resembling that of a claw. The sword energy accelerated at Aviante. 

"You did not disappoint me, Urs!" 

Aviante stared at the descending slashes and activated an ability of his own. The ground shattered as he readied his stance before a torrential burst of blood vapor condensed at the tip of his spear. 

"How about you take mine?!" 

[Blood Magic: Purifying Red River Arrow!] 

Aviante slammed his foot, gaining balance as he lunged his spear towards the sword slashes. 

Clang—

Wooosh—

As their attacks collided, the air suddenly became heavy followed by a burst of chaotic energy. 

BOOOM—

A loud boom roared throughout the dimension. The space shattered, the ground evaporated and the area of the explosion became nothing but a large crater. 

The shockwaves traveled through all around the world, sweeping everything as it passed by. 

Hans hid behind a large mountain, however, it also collapsed right after. Based on his estimate, the power of the explosion was enough to kill all humans in the USA. 

He survived because of the gears that granted him superior defense and resistance. The torrents of wind lasted for 20 seconds before the air stabilized.

"Cough, cough!" 

Hans scanned the area and seeing no danger, he crawled under a broken tree shade. His eyes were closed, preventing his [Primeval Eyes] from consuming mana. 

He leaned on a tree and steadied his heartbeat before he forced himself up. The wounds on his body began to heal in naked eyes while his broken bones healed slower. It was barely even noticeable. 

Despite the pain coursing through his body, Hans shuffled to the nearest enemy and grabbed a weapon in its hand. 

It was a peculiar sword with a moon-shaped tip. He spotted it being wielded by an Asura race. 

'Urs, I need to help Urs.'

If Urs died here, he's dead too. 

His footsteps abruptly stop, when a monstrous cloud of dust gradually approaches his line of perception. 

'Another shockwave!!?' 

But as time passes, the shockwaves did not arrived. 

...... 

Swish—

Baaam—

Urs dodged Aviante's blood projectiles before casting his own. 

[Purgatory Summon: Slashes of the Purgatory King!] 

A burst of smoke filled the vicinity followed by a humongous projection of an eye and a sword. The sword transformed into a humanoid monster and rained down consecutive slashes containing death and corruption attributes. 

Slash—, slash—, slash—, slash—

Aviante countered this with an attack of his own. 

[Water Creation Magic: Poseidon's Grasp.]

A golden neon trident descended on the ground before a large stream of water rained upon the area. 

As the sword energy collided with the water, the slashes' momentum turned slower until they vanished before reaching their target. 

'An opening!' 

Taking advantage of the blindspot, Aviante rushed behind Urs and pierced his spear towards his heart. 

However, Urs wings formed a shield, deflecting the upcoming threat. 

Clang—

The spear rattled as it hit the hard object. Urs twisted his body and slammed his fist on Aviante's face.

Slam—

The air rippled as Aviante slammed towards the ground. 

Rough winds constantly breezed around the field. 

The dust gradually settled revealing Aviante's laid back expression who was muttering something in the air. 

"4...3...2...1...Hehe, it's about time."

Badump—, Badump—, Badump—

"Cough—" 

Urs grasped his chest as pain coursed in his entire body. The dark wings flickered behind his back before it gradually diminished. Unable to stay afloat, he crashed on the ground. 

Thud—

Both men were down but the outcome was already decided. 

"HAHAHAHA, that was fun, Urs!" Aviante propelled himself up and continued, "It's a pity, I won."

The foggy vision did not stop him from seeing Urs' agonizing figure. He covered his wound and trudged to his opponent. The scent of blood and whirling dust lingered in the air. 

Although tired, Aviante did not forget to mock his enemy. 

"Look at you, struggling to cling on to life. Your fate was already sealed to death and here I am, still breathing." Aviante raised the spear and pierced Urs stomach.

Stab—

 It's not that he doesn't want to aim the heart, but because the spear felt heavy and his strength couldn't lift it any longer. 

Although it was only a 3-minute bout, his strength was exhausted from the constant use of skills which requires tremendous amounts of mana. He underestimated the power of the env—, successor. 

However, Urs did not squeak and just held the painful moans escaping from his mouth. 

'His will to live is terrifying.'

The moment he saw Urs power surpass that of an SS-Class, Aviante already secured the winning position. As long as he stayed alive, his win was just around the corner. 

And as predicted, Urs lost. 

"It must be hard being born as a human. Bearing the power of whoever King you serve would be almost impossible. You humans have limits after all."

"Cough—, don't you dare… kill them."

A grin formed on Aviante's lips, "A necromancer who always breathed life to the dead was now reduced into a man struggling from the grasp of death. Ironic isn't it?" 

"Ha, haha… I'm not dead yet."

Hearing Urs speaking, Aviante reflexively chuckled, "Hehehe, soon, my friend… soon." 

He was about to ram his foot on Urs neck when suddenly, someone interrupted and fend off his feet. With a blinding speed, that blurry figure swallowed Urs body and blended perfectly in the shadows. 

"Oh, I forgot the other mouse." Aviante signaled his subordinates to follow the figure before he sat on the ground to regenerate his lost mana and injuries. 

...…. 

In the meantime, the blurry figure, Hans, slinked through the piles of rocks carrying Urs' twitching body behind him. With his raw speed alone, he was able to sneak through Aviante's perception and snatched Urs from him. 

Even if Aviante is weakened, it doesn't change the fact that he was ridiculously strong. 

As for Urs… 

'To think he could go toe to toe with an SSS-Class monster is just…' 

Many questions rippled in his mind but he cannot afford to find answers as he felt multiple figures surrounding him on all corners. Hans shifted direction but was quickly blocked away. 

"Kid, you can't escape."

Without any possible routes, Hans panted heavily as he flopped down to the ground. 

"To think we would be forced on edge by two humans is just ridiculous. We need to kill you both or else our wounded pride wouldn't be able to recover."

Hans gulped his saliva and muttered, "You spoke like a warrior yet you hid behind your master when Urs bodied you all."

"It's natural for the weak to bow his head to the strong. If you can't even comprehend such a thing, it's either you're being sarcastic or just plain stupid."

"..." 

"Anyways, if you're thinking that you could escape here by stalling time, I'm sorry to disappoint you but you're already trapped here."

However, instead of fear, Hans held his head high and muttered, "No, you're wrong."

He then raised his middle finger and declared with a mocking grin, "You… are trapped here with me!!!" 

Bang—

A burst of light shot through the distance, penetrating the head of a gatekeeper. 

Blood splashed down the floor as the gatekeeper fell on the ground powerlessly. 

Thud—

The Bloodbane gatekeepers have their eyes widened. The scene fell into silence once again. 

Until… 

"Kristina, your aim hasn't diminished at all."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Freya."